Dark Fantasy’s Extra

The temple’s interior was made of white stone like marble.

As soon as we opened the door and entered, there was an enormous plaza with high ceilings, and in the center stood a flower-shaped statue about three times taller than a person.

“A flower? What kind of deity could it be? Usually they’re shaped like people or animals.”

“…”

That flower is…

“Senior?”

“Ah, what did you say?”

“No… did something come to mind?”

“Well. Anyway, take out paper and pen. From here on it’s probably a maze.”

I pointed to the three passages visible behind the statue.

Though I said this, they all converge at one point in the end.

Everything inside consists of low-tier Beasts or even weaker mob-level creatures, and there are several secret passages to bypass them.

To begin with, for strong Beasts to gather, there needs to be enough of the witch’s curse, but this place is completely isolated from the outside so there’s no catalyst for curses to accumulate.

There are only two mid-tier Beasts that could be called bosses.

“Then which way should we go?”

Hilde asked.

“Left.”

To meet Sancho again later, we need to go left.

We passed the giant statue and entered the left passage.

Though there were no torches, since I had taught Hilde night vision, we didn’t stumble around in the darkness.

“…Senior.”

“Yes. I smell it.”

Less than 5 minutes after entering the passage, the smell of blood wafted from inside.

“It might be that person from earlier.”

“Let’s run just in case. Take out your weapons.”

“Yes!”

In the distance we could see faint light and a corner.

When we turned it, we saw a Beast that appeared slightly wounded and a torch lying beneath it.

The Beast spotted us and charged.

Though I could have cleanly shot its head with my rifle since it was coming straight at us in the narrow space, I deliberately aimed for its leg instead.

With a gunshot that shook the passage, the Beast staggered as its front leg was hit.

“Take care of it.”

“Yes!”

Hilde stepped forward with her axe.

The battle ended anticlimactically.

Though the wounded Beast limped as it charged at Hilde, its forehead and skull were crushed by the massive axe blade as it slammed into the ground.

The Beast died instantly as its eyeballs and tongue burst out.

Then Hilde sprinkled holy oil from her waist and turned the Beast’s corpse to ashes with a match.

The entire process ended in an instant.

“You’re quite the hunter now.”

Though less than a month had passed since Hilde joined, her skills were already sufficient for field work.

Of course, she was still at a lower-ranked hunter’s level, but her growth rate was remarkable nonetheless.

“That was excellent.”

“Hehe, it’s thanks to your help, Senior.”

“In a year… no, within half a year you’ll do fine without me.”

“What?”

“I’m saying you’re learning that well.”

“…Yes.”

Somehow her response was lukewarm.

Perhaps I was clumsy in how I praised her.

“Anyway, this torch seems to have been left by that person from earlier.”

I lightly changed the subject to shake off the awkward feeling.

Seeing a lit torch lying in such a place, Sancho must have definitely passed through here.

In Blue Paper Moon, Sancho was an NPC with quite poor combat ability who could barely defeat low-tier Beasts.

Instead, he was good at running away or hiding, often found in hard-to-discover places.

We continued through the passage.

There were several more Beasts along the way, but they were all low-tier Beasts so we could hunt them without difficulty.

Though there were secret passages to avoid the Beasts in between, since my purpose was Hilde’s growth, I didn’t particularly use them.

We could see a small light flowing from an exit at the end of the passage.

It wasn’t our destination but a room to rest briefly.

There, Sancho was examining the wall while holding a torch.

“Ah. It’s you folks. I thought it might be another Beast.”

He turned his head toward us.

“What are you doing in a place like this?”

Hilde asked.

“Hm? Didn’t I say earlier? I’m an adventurer. I came here after hearing rumors of treasure.”

“Treasure? But this is a dangerous place where Beasts appear.”

“Isn’t treasure naturally found in dangerous places?”

“That only happens in storybooks.”

“Storybooks…”

Sancho’s mood dropped slightly.

“Then that’s fine. Adventure is originally fictional, no, fantastical after all. In that sense, you could say I came to the right place.”

“What’s this treasure you heard about?”

Though I already knew, I asked to confirm.

If it’s different from what I know, or if it overlaps with mine, I’ll need to modify my plans.

“I heard it’s something that can bring the dead back to life.”

“That’s impossible.”

Hilde immediately shook her head.

“Such a thing couldn’t exist in this world. No, even if it did revive someone, it wouldn’t be their living self but just controlling their corpse.”

Hilde frowned slightly, perhaps remembering the zombie Beast attack.

“You don’t know if something’s possible until you try. And even if a dream is impossible, no, I think the more impossible it is, the more valuable it becomes.”

“Ah…”

Hilde seemed somewhat impressed.

She too once dreamed of being a hunter despite being a noblewoman, and only managed it through me as a catalyst (or so she thinks).

Perhaps she felt a kinship with Sancho who was pursuing the seemingly reckless dream of adventure.

“By the way, what do you think?”

He spoke to me.

“Me?”

“Yes. About this wall painting.”

He illuminated the wall with his torch, showing various flowers painted there.

“Like the statue at the entrance, this temple seems to be dedicated to some flower. While there are occasional legends about flowers, for such a massive building to be built and revered, it must be no ordinary thing.”

That’s correct.

“But it’s strange. Though I’ve studied quite a bit of legends and myths, there’s nothing… this close to worship. Maybe my studies were insufficient, but perhaps it was forbidden from being known to the public.”

“…And?”

“Well, I have some eye for people. Unlike the young lady beside you, you seem like a hunter with quite some experience. I wondered if you might know something.”

I do know.

The legend of this temple, the story erased from history, even the flower’s identity.

But I’m not sure if I should say it.

All of that is deeply connected not just to Sancho but also to one of the witches, ‘Princess Bari’.

It’s hard to predict what might happen if I speak carelessly.

“…You already said it yourself. It was forbidden from being known to the public. I’m just a lower-ranked hunter. I couldn’t possibly know such stories.”

“Hmm…”

Sancho tilted his head suspiciously.

“…Well, you’re right. There’s no way such legends would be so easily known.”

He shrugged his shoulders.

“I’m going to stay here and investigate a bit more. Would you let me know if you find anything?”

“Yes.”

I nudged Hilde’s side as she readily agreed.

“Ah…”

“Hoho, how kind.”

“Let’s go.”

I took Hilde and left that room, heading up the stairs on the opposite side.

“…I’m sorry.”

Hilde said quietly.

“I just, without thinking…”

“It’s fine.”

“What?”

“Just be careful from now on. Remember well that you shouldn’t make promises carelessly that you might not be able to keep.”

“Yes…”

Though I said this, I actually intended to tell him.

That’s necessary for Sancho’s related story to flow in a good direction.

Though there will be hardships ahead that are difficult to even describe as trials, it’s necessary to make the war with the witches even slightly more favorable.

Of course, I can’t honestly tell all these facts, so it’s better to scold her moderately.

“…Something’s there.”

Wind was blowing from ahead.

Moreover, our surroundings were gradually brightening.

It was clearly sunlight entering, albeit faintly, not torchlight.

In the game too, there was a mid-boss at the end of these stairs after the room where Sancho was.

Though it’s a mid-tier Beast, it’s a tricky type to deal with.

“…This feeling is strange.”

“Hm?”

“It feels different from the Beasts until now… what is this feeling…”

I got slight chills.

As she said, what’s ahead isn’t an ordinary Beast born from Red Hood’s curse, but one created by Princess Bari.

Yet she distinguished this just by feeling, without even seeing it?

“Focus and prepare.”

“Yes…”

We lowered our stride and peeked up the stairs.

“…That’s.”

Though not the rooftop, one entire wall was open, showing the setting sun clearly.

And revealed in that twilight was a Beast in the form of a massive raven.

Standing about 2 meters tall with a beak that could swallow a human head whole, and eyes the color of Princess Bari’s symbol – purple.

In the game it was called the ‘Guardian Raven’.

This is the Beast that occasionally leaves this temple to patrol the surroundings.

“I’ve never seen a Beast like this before. Plus this feeling… it really is different.”

“Still, it’s a Beast we need to hunt.”

I aimed my rifle at the Guardian Raven.

No matter which witch’s Beast it is, silver bullets remain their weakness.

And like the Beast of Bone Fragments, the Guardian Raven had relatively low health and defense.

“This time we might not have the luxury of taking turns fighting. We’ll end this quickly with cooperation. Follow me well.”

“Yes.”

I aimed at the Guardian Raven’s wing.

Though aiming for the head might be best, if it ricochets off that massive beak, we’d be in trouble either way.

“Ready…”

Then I shot a silver bullet toward the raven’s right wing bone.

With a loud gunshot, the raven scattered feathers as it took flight bleeding from the bullet wound.

But it couldn’t fly far and soon came down.

I immediately reloaded my rifle.

Meanwhile the Guardian Raven charged toward me.

It came running quickly without flying, menacingly spreading its one good wing.

“Block it!”

At my command, Hilde immediately stepped in front of me and took a stance with her axe.

“Caaawww!”

The raven screamed at Hilde.

Her stance wavered.

She seemed affected by the Guardian Raven’s special ability.

In the game too, hearing the raven’s cry would temporarily inflict the ‘fear’ status effect.

“Get it together!”

“Ah…!”

When I shouted from behind, Hilde regained her senses and struck the approaching Guardian Raven’s beak with her axe.

“Screeeech…!?”

The Beast flew back slightly as a large wound appeared on its massive black beak.

I finished reloading during that time and aimed at the raven again.

As expected, its flight was unnatural due to the first injury.

Without rushing, slowly but surely aiming while waiting for the Guardian Raven to land again.

It too seemed to run out of strength while flying and slowly descended.

I kept moving while following the raven, running to a good position to shoot from.

Hilde maintained an appropriate distance to intervene between me and the raven at any time.

And the moment the raven descended to the ground, I shot a silver bullet toward its other wing.